A Piece of Perfect
by Nutmorgan123
Summary: After an accident occurs, Lisbon becomes the guardian of Hightower's two children. As she learns how to deal with the struggles and responsibilities that come with raising children, she also learns just how important family really is. Jisbon!
1. Just a Dream

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or any of the characters.**

**Chapter One: Just a Dream**

Lisbon stood frozen, shocked speechless, the phone still pressed against her ear. She had a white-knuckled grip on it and didn't plan on letting go until the officer on the other line told her that this was all some sort of sick joke. Or until she woke up from this awful nightmare she was currently trapped in.

"Ma'am? Are you still there?" the officer asked, his voice garbled by static. "We would really appreciate it if you'd come down here and identify the bodies for us."

Lisbon still didn't speak-instead, she slammed the phone down into its cradle and tried not to pass out. She leaned against the wall for support; this couldn't be happening. It was just a horrible dream; it had to be, didn't it? Any moment now she'd open her eyes and find herself in her own bed, in her own home, safe and sound. Wouldn't she? Somehow she knew that wouldn't happen; her future was irreversibly, irreparably altered and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing would ever be the same again.

She felt the tears begin to pool in her eyes, but she forced them away. Crying would only make things worse; drawing in a shaky breath, she tried to collect herself enough to break the news to the rest of the team. Trying to appear calm and in control, she exited her office to find her team members asleep at their desks. Or in Jane's case, on his couch. It was nearly two in the morning, and she felt guilty having to wake them-especially Jane. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully for once; it looked as if Red John hadn't invaded his dreams tonight, and it pained her to disturb him, but she knew she had no choice. Steeling herself, she shook him out of his peaceful slumber, not taking time to look at him before moving on to the others. Rigsby was the hardest to stir; if she hadn't been working with him all this time, she probably would've thought he was unconscious.

Everybody complained and groaned about being woken up, but when they saw the look on Lisbon's face, they stopped whining and started worrying.

"What's wrong, boss?" Cho asked, concern flashing in his eyes. "Do we have another case?"

Lisbon shook her head; there was a death, two actually, but there was no mystery or crime-solving involved.

"Then what is it?" Rigsby asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"It's Hightower," Lisbon blurted. Her comment was met with puzzled expressions.

"What about Hightower?" Jane asked, suddenly wide-awake.

"Is everything all right?" Van Pelt questioned anxiously. Lisbon just shook her head, not bothering to offer up an explanation.

"So what's wrong?" Cho repeated.

"She's dead," Jane said from his perch on the worn leather couch in the corner that he used as a bed.

"What? Lisbon, is that true?" Van Pelt cried, on the verge hysterics. This time it was harder to hold back the tears, but Lisbon managed to do it for the others' sakes.

"Yes," she said, shifting her gaze from her shoes to her team.

"Oh my god," Van Pelt whispered. "How?"

"A drunk driver hit them, sent them over the edge of a bridge; they died on impact," Lisbon choked out, struggling to talk around the enormous lump in her throat.

"Oh my god," Van Pelt said again, not even attempting to stop the tears from flowing. "Oh my god."

"Wait a minute; them? They? There was more than person?" Rigsby remarked.

"Yeah; Hightower's husband was killed, too. The drunk driver didn't get so much as a scratch or a bruise," Lisbon told him. The anger in her voice was clear as day, and they all knew why. Lisbon got like this whenever they had a case that involved a drunk driver; her mother had been killed in an almost identical way. Just like in this situation, the person at fault had gotten away completely uninjured; it was so unfair it made Lisbon physcially sick.

And suddenly, Lisbon just couldn't take it anymore; the sadness, the outrage, the fear. All of the emotions she'd kept inside for years exploded out of her and she slid to the ground, sobbing. Within seconds, the team was at her side; but they didn't understand. None of them did; sure, she was devastated over Hightower's death, even more so because of her mother, but there was another reason for her being so upset. A reason that she hadn't revealed to anybody; she should've known Jane would pick up on it.

"Lisbon, is there something you aren't telling us?" he asked, his tone gentle, yet firm.

"What makes you think that?" Lisbon snapped defensively.

"Well, you and Hightower weren't exactly the best of friends," Jane said simply, shrugging his shoulders. Lisbon knew she wouldn't fool anybody, least of all Jane, by playing dumb. She might as well just tell them; they'd have to find out eventually, and it was better to just get it over with.

"Do you remember two weeks ago, when I sprained my ankle?" she began. "That day that I babysat Hightower's kids?"

The others nodded, unsure how this was relevant to everything else.

"Well about a week ago, Hightower invited me out to dinner; I thought she was going to tell me that I had to do a better job of keeping _you _in line," Lisbon continued, shooting Jane an accusatory glare. Jane didn't even flinch, just looked at Lisbon expectantly, waiting for her to keep going. "Anyway, when I got to the restaurant, Hightower's husband was there, too. They said they had to tell me something." Lisbon took a deep breath, trying to tame her racing pulse. "They told me that, if anything ever happened to them, that they wanted me to be their children's guardian. I protested at first; I had no idea why they were asking me, of all people. They didn't tell me why, but I figured they must have some reason for doing so; so eventually I agreed to it. I never thought I'd actually end up in this predicament. And now I don't know what to do."

Lisbon had already spoken to a social worker, so she knew exactly what happened from here; if she was either unwilling or unable to care for Mimi and Will, they would be put into foster care, seeing as they had no other living relatives. What she didn't know was what to do; Lisbon wasn't really in any position to raise two children; the only experience she had with childcare was occasionally babysitting her brother's kids, but that was only for a miminum amount of time. Not to mention the fact that she spent nearly all day, every day chasing down murderers. However, she knew what it felt like to feel unwanted; it wasn't a foreign feeling to her, seeing as her father had been abusive. The last thing she wanted was for Mimi and Will to feel that way, and she wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of knowing she had caused those feelings. From Lisbon's point-of-view, it didn't seem like she had any other option except to honor the commitment she'd made and take Mimi and Will in, making them her responsibility until they turned 18. It was a terrifying thought, terrifying enough to make the tough-as-nails Teresa Lisbon cry.

"Where are the kids now?" Jane dared to ask, rubbing soothing circles on Lisbon's back.

"They're at friends houses; I'm supposed to pick them up at three, but I don't know if I can. How do you tell an eight-year-old and five-year-old that their parents are dead?"

"Lisbon, look at me; everything is going to be okay. Why don't you go home and get some rest, clear your head and I'll pick up Mimi and Will? They can stay with me for a couple of days while you figure everything out, okay?" Jane suggested.

"Jane, that's sweet, but-," Lisbon started, but he cut her off.

"Uh-uh, no buts; Rigsby, drive her home," Jane ordered.

"But I need to go identify the bodies; and I'm not a child, I'm perfectly capable of driving home by myself," Lisbon protested her voice cracking.

"Van Pelt and Cho can go identify the bodies, and I know you aren't a child, but I don't want you to be alone right now. You're too worked up; just get some sleep. I swear, the kids will be in good hands. You don't have to worry; I've done this before, remember?"

Just that slight reference to his daughter made Jane tear up, but he kept a brave face. Far too tired and shook up to argue any further, Lisbon gave in and allowed Rigsby to drive her to her townhouse.

She offered him her couch, but he declined, saying there was no way he'd be able to fall asleep. Lisbon felt exactly the same, but she changed out of her work clothes and crawled under the covers anyway. As the hours ticked by and she continued to lie awake, she was only able to form one clear thought: What am I going to do?


	2. A Family in Their Own Way

**A/N: Sorry, I forgot an author's note on the first chapter. This is my first story ever, so I'm still learning the ropes. I know this chapter is kind of short, but I made it as long as I could. Please tell me what you think! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or the characters in any way, shape, or form.**

Chapter Two: A Family in Their Own Way

Lisbon knew as she trudged down the stairs the following morning that she must be a sorry sight to see. Tearstained face, rumpled clothing, hair that looked like a bird's nest, bags under her eyes. But she didn't really care; in her opinion, she had every right to be upset. In just a few short days, she'd become the official guardian of two kids that she'd only met once, and she had virtually no idea how to act as a mother figure towards them, no idea how to raise them right. With no experience as a caregiver and an extremely tight schedule to follow, Lisbon just couldn't see how this was going to work out. What was Hightower thinking?

When she padded into her kitchen, Rigsby was seated at the table; his head was down and he was snoring softly. There was an untouched mug of coffee in front of him. A ghost of a smile whispered across Lisbon's lips but vanished quickly; she slowly poured herself her own cup of coffee, the warmth soaking into her palms and helping to lessen the panic coursing through her veins. She figured she should probably call Jane, make sure everything was okay. She should definitely visit him and the kids, explain what was going on. Reluctantly, she plucked her phone from her bathrobe pocket and dialed Jane's number. One ring, two rings, three rings…

"Hello?" Jane's voice came through the receiver, sleep-ridden and dazed.

"Jane?" Lisbon replied, her tone anxious. Had she called too early? What time was it anyway? The oven clock read 8:45 am.

"Oh, hey Lisbon." There was a faint rustling noise in the background before he spoke again. "Did you get some sleep?" Lisbon ignored his question and asked one of her own.

"How are the kids?"

"Well, okay, considering the circumstances. They're sleeping right now, and probably will for a while. They only dozed off a couple of hours ago; they're still pretty disoriented. None of this feels quite real to them yet."

"At least they're safe," Lisbon murmured. "Let me get dressed and I'll be right over."

"Lisbon, if you're not ready for this yet, I completely understand. I don't want to force you into anything; this is a big step to take and I get that. You should take it in your own due time," Jane said, his voice laced with uncertainty. Lisbon bit her lip and thought for a moment.

"No, this is something I have to do today," she finally decided. "The sooner the better; the longer I put it off, the harder it will get. Besides, I won't be able to focus on anything until I do."

"Okay, if you're sure," Jane said a bit warily.

"I'm sure." Lisbon wasn't positive whom she was trying to convince of this fact-Jane or herself.

Two hours later, Lisbon knocked on Jane's motel room door. It swung open, revealing Jane dressed in his signature vest, his curly hair sticking up all over the place. Lisbon stepped inside and surveyed the room; Mimi and Will were curled up on the bed, tucked securely under the covers. Two backpacks were propped up against the wall, and a door in the far left corner led to what Lisbon assumed was the bathroom. Turning back to Jane, Lisbon opened her mouth to ask the question that had been nagging at her for several hours now.

"Have you-?" she started, but she didn't get very far.

"Yes, Lisbon, I already told them that you're going to be their guardian," Jane interrupted, reading her mind. "I was rather surprised by their reaction actually; they both broke into huge smiles, said they were glad their mommy and daddy had chosen you."

Lisbon felt her heart crack in half for the two innocent children snuggled on the bed less than ten feet away from where she was standing. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around them, comfort them, tell them that it was all going to be okay, that she would do everything in her power to make them happy. And right then, she vowed to do just that.

"I'll wake them up for you," Jane volunteered, tiptoeing across the carpet. He perched lightly on the edge of the bed and then began to tickle the two sleeping figures. Within seconds, shrieks of laughter filled the hotel room and Lisbon couldn't help wondering if she'd ever make as good a parent as Jane.

"Guess who came to see you?" Jane said mysteriously, staring intently at Mimi and Will.

"Who?" they asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on the mattress.

"Teresa did." Will and Mimi immediately grew quiet, just now remembering that Lisbon meant so much more to them now. Their downcast eyes moved to look at the person who would be raising them from now on, who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway, unsure of what to do with herself. She managed to work her mouth into some version of a smile, but it was difficult; the fear she felt was now overwhelming. What if she ruined their lives? What if she ended up raising drug addicts or alcoholics or serial killers? What if, what if, what if...? She was so wrapped up in her worries that she didn't even realize Will had moved until his arms were around her waist; she automatically returned the embrace, not even taking the time to think about her actions. Mimi hung back at first, biting her lip in uncertainty, but eventually she stepped forward and joined the heartfelt group hug, tears rolling down her cheeks and staining Lisbon's blouse.

In that split second, the three of them established an unbreakable bond and they suddenly became a family. A family that would always remain bound together by their losses, and that would help each other to heal and move on, despite the fact that they weren't flesh-and-blood. A family in their own way.

**Like it, love it, hate it? Let me know in a review! :P**


	3. My House, My Rules

**Disclaimer:**** As always, I don't own the Mentalist or the characters.**

**A/N: Please review! It is summer, so updates should be pretty quick. **

Chapter Three: My House, My Rules

Mimi and Will had only been living with Lisbon for a week and already things were starting to become difficult. Lisbon, with the team's help, had managed to transform her guest bedroom into a shared bedroom for the kids. But that was about all that had been accomplished; that, and winning over twenty battles with the kids. Lisbon understood they were going through an incredibly rough time right now and she felt for them, she really did, but did they have to turn every little disagreement into World War 3?

She'd practically set the rules in stone, rules that she thought were quite reasonable, but apparently Mimi and Will weren't in agreement with her. How many times had she told Will not to throw a baseball in the house? How many times had he not listened and nearly broken the window? And Mimi was even harder; Lisbon had told her time and time again not to play dress-up with her clothes, but Mimi seemed indifferent to this rule. This had resulted in Lisbon having to make a trip to the dry cleaners to have an apple juice stain removed from her favorite gray work suit. Every rule that Lisbon made, the kids found some way to break it.

Sometimes it got so hard that Lisbon honestly didn't think she could take it anymore. There were nights when she'd lay in bed awake, crying, wondering what Hightower was thinking when she decided to make Lisbon the guardian of her children. At points she even considered filling out the paperwork to turn the kids over to Jane; after all, he'd done this before, and the kids seemed to listen to him. But then she'd feel a rush of guilt as she remembered her vow to herself.

_ Make them happy; that's all that matters now, _Lisbon thought to herself as she stood at the stove in her cramped kitchen, preparing dinner for her and the kids. _Make them happy. _She tried her best to tune out the sound of Mimi and Will bickering down the hallway, but they seemed to grow louder by the second. Turning off the stove and abandoning the pot of noodles, she wiped her hands on a dish towel and headed towards the source of the argument. She pushed open Mimi and Will's bedroom door to find them in the middle of a heated argument about who got to sleep on the top bunk.

"Guys, break it up!" Lisbon yelled, but her voice hardly made a dent in the commotion the kids were making. "Guys, stop fighting! Stop right now!" They continued to ignore her, and her cop instinct took over. "That's it! Both of you be quiet right now!"

That caught their attention; stunned, they whirled around to face her.

"That is it! I am so sick of you arguing all the time and it is going to stop. Neither of you gets the top bunk; neither of you gets the bottom bunk, either!" Lisbon shouted, stomping out of the room towards the linen closet in the hallway.

"Where are we supposed to sleep then?" Mimi asked indignantly, hands on her hips.

Lisbon pulled two rolled-up sleeping bags from the bottom shelf of the closet and thrust one into Mimi's arms and the other into Will's.

"In these, on the floor," Lisbon ordered, jabbing a finger at the white carpet of their bedroom.

"But-," Will protested, only to be cut off by Lisbon.

"No-no buts," Lisbon said sternly and deliberately. "It's time that you two learn your lesson."

Defeated, they turned and disappeared into their room, grumbling under their breaths.

"This has got to be child abuse," Mimi muttered as she slammed the door shut.

"Hey, no slamming doors!" Lisbon warned. When there came no response, she heaved a sigh and headed towards her own room.

_Things will get better, _she thought to herself as she climbed beneath the sheets. _They will; once they've adjusted, things will get better. _

As Lisbon repeated this in her head, trying to convince herself that it was true, she felt herself begin to sink into sleep…

"_Thank you," Hightower said, engulfing Lisbon in a hug. Lisbon was surprised and caught off guard, but strangely touched as well. _

_ "Hey, not a problem," Lisbon replied quietly as they pulled away. _

_ "Let me get them out of your hair," Hightower said, gesturing towards her children sleeping atop a pile of garbage bags in the corner of Lisbon's office. _

_ Lisbon nodded and walked towards the bullpen, expecting to see Jane, but instead she saw two dead, bloodied bodies. One was Mimi's, one was Will's. Lisbon screamed and recoiled in horror; she tried to run, but her feet wouldn't move. She saw a person dressed all in black appear several feet to her right; he had a gun, and it was pointed straight at Lisbon's forehead. The gun went off, followed by another scream; but this time, the scream sounded different. It sounded like Mimi's voice… _

Lisbon awoke from her dream with a start; her heart was pounding, her breath came out in short, ragged gasps, and her hair was plastered to her face with sweat. Another scream, followed by a loud crash, floated down the hallway and Lisbon leapt up from the carpet and scrambled for the door. She skidded into the kitchen and found Will banging a frying pan against the ground.

"Will, what are you doing?" Lisbon shrieked, lunging for the frying pan. After a small amount of struggle, she managed to wrestle it from his grip. Flustered, Lisbon repeated her question.

"There was a spider," Will said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "Mimi told me to a kill it, so I did." He pointed to a squashed black spot on the tile floor and shrugged again.

"Why didn't you just step on it? You probably woke up half the building," Lisbon reprimanded, wiping up the spider's remains with a paper towel. Then she noticed the lollipop poking out of Mimi's mouth. "Mimi, what did I tell you about eating candy in the morning?"

Lisbon couldn't hide the exasperation in her voice; would they ever learn?

"Mommy always used to let us have one piece of candy when we woke up, as long as we promised to eat all of our breakfast," Mimi said defensively.

"Well guess what? Your mommy isn't here anymore! And when you live in my house, you live by my rules!" Lisbon yelled. If her neighbors hadn't been awake before, they certainly were now.

One look at the kids' faces told Lisbon she'd been too harsh. She desperately tried to reconcile, but couldn't seem to find the words. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

"You look like a fish when you do that," Will finally remarked. Lisbon burst out laughing despite herself; at first Will couldn't seem to figure out what was so funny, but he joined in anyway, followed closely by Mimi. It felt good to laugh; Lisbon hadn't been happy enough to do that in a very long time, and she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

She grabbed Mimi around the waist and swung her in circles; then she crept up on Will from behind and tickled him until he fell to ground, completely overcome with laughter. They all lay side-by-side on the kitchen floor until the guffaws lessened into giggles and then tapered off into silence. Lisbon was the first to speak again.

"So, breakfast anyone?" she asked cheerily.

**A/N: Pleas review!**


	4. Milestones

******Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or the characters. **

**A/N: This chapter took a while to write, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

**Chapter 4: Milestones**

It was a blazing hot Saturday at the end of August; Lisbon was seated on her porch, protected by the shade, while Mimi and Will rode their bikes along the sidewalk. They'd been out here all day, and Lisbon had had to apply new coats of sunscreen by the hour, but she didn't mind. She'd had the kids for about two months now and it was the first time in a while that they were actually getting along. It gave her time to think; currently, she was making a list of all of the things she had to do before September 7th, which was a mere two weeks away.

Luckily, the kids were already enrolled in school so that was one less thing she had to do. But she still had to take them shopping to get supplies and new clothes. They'd long since outgrown many of the outfits they already owned and were in desperate need of new ones. Lisbon promised herself she'd get to the store this week; she also needed to take them to their yearly doctor's and dentist's appointments, sign them up for soccer, which required her to fill out about a dozen medical forms, and find a church to attend. Apparently the Hightower family was very religious, but the church they'd previously attended was in the process of being torn down.

She also had to make adjustments to her schedule so she'd have time to take the kids to and from school everyday, and find somebody to watch them while she was off fighting crime. Van Pelt had offered assistance numerous times, but there was no guarantee than she'd always be available when Lisbon needed her. She'd been looking in the newspaper and asking around her townhouse complex for possible babysitters, but so far hadn't had much luck in that department.

Lisbon was torn out of her thoughts by Mimi's voice.

"Teresa?" she called, squinting into the blinding sunlight.

"What is it, Mimi?" Teresa yelled above the insistent barking of her neighbor's dog.

"Can I get a new bike?"

One look at Mimi's current bicycle told Lisbon that this wasn't an unreasonable request. It must've been nice several years ago, but now it looked like it could fall apart at any second. The purple paint was badly chipped, there were more cobwebs dangling from the handlebars than streamers, and there was so much duct tape covering the tires that you could hardly see them.

Plus, buying a new bike would give Lisbon the much-needed opportunity to get some of the back-to-school shopping done. Just sitting in a lawn chair wasn't going to get chores done.

Right as she was helping Will to buckle his seatbelt, Lisbon felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Boo!" a familiar voice yelled. Startled, Lisbon jumped and whirled around to find Jane's grinning face just inches from hers.

"God, Jane, why do you have to be such a pain in the ass?" she groaned. Then she realized her choice of words and quickly corrected herself. "I mean neck, pain in the neck."

"It helps to brighten the day," Jane said casually. "Where are you headed?"

"None of your business; what are you doing here, anyway?"

"I just wanted to drop by, see how you were doing."

"Well, we're fine; now can you please leave? I have stuff to do."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just errands; why do you care?"

"I'm just naturally curious; you should know that better than anyone."

"Yeah, I should; it's your "natural curiosity" that nearly gets me fired everyday."

"Oh come on, isn't that a little exaggerated?" Lisbon rolled her eyes and climbed into the driver's seat; to her annoyance, Jane slid into the passenger's side.

"Really?" she asked. Jane shrugged.

"I don't see why not."

"I swear, sometimes I think you just live to torment me."

"That's not entirely false."

"Do you ever shut up?"

Two hours, and an uncountable amount of irritating, useless remarks from Jane later, Lisbon pulled the car in the townhouse driveway. By some miracle, they'd managed to finish school shopping, pick out a newer, much nicer bike for Mimi, and even pick up some groceries. Jane had insisted on tagging along the entire time, and although she'd never admit it, Lisbon had been secretly glad for the company. If it weren't for his support, she would've gone off the deep end a long time ago.

Now all she wanted was to curl up and take a nap, but Mimi-and Jane, for that matter-had other ideas. Ideas that involved teaching Mimi how to ride a two-wheeler. Lisbon attempted to argue, but it was two against one, and let's face it-nobody, not even Teresa Lisbon, is truly capable of winning an argument against Patrick Jane.

Besides, Lisbon didn't want to deny him of spending time with children. He'd lost the one child who meant the most to him, and he deserved to experience the things he never got the chance to with his own daughter-including teaching a child how to ride a two-wheeler. Which, Lisbon was beginning to realize, would be no easy task.

Things started out okay; Jane and Lisbon each held on to one of the handlebars, keeping the bike from wobbling or overturning while Mimi got a feel of the pedals. But as soon as they decided to let go, everything went downhill. Every time they released their grasp on the handlebars, Mimi would get scared and put her feet on the ground. They continued to encourage her, promising that they were right there, and they would catch her if she fell. They told that since she was wearing a helmet, she couldn't get hurt; when all else failed, they even tried bribing her with candy or a new doll, or getting to sleep on the top bunk for an entire week-to which Will protested severely. But nothing worked; by the time the sun began to set, Lisbon was beginning to think it was hopeless. But of course, Jane refused to give up.

Mimi had abandoned her bike in the grass and was sitting on the driveway, shoulders slumped and a defeated expression on her face. She was clearly frustrated with herself, and had started to cry. Jane knelt beside her and the ground and began to talk to her in a whisper; Lisbon strained to hear what he was saying, but couldn't catch any more than a few scattered words here and there. She saw Mimi give a slight nod, and Jane smiled at her; then they both jumped up and ran for the front door, disappearing inside.

Lisbon blew out a breath, wondering what sort of scheme Jane had conjured up this time. Whatever it was, she hoped it didn't involve consequences that she'd have to apologize for later. Her questions were answered soon, as the two reappeared on the porch less than five minutes later; she almost couldn't contain her laughter when she saw Mimi.

Jane had dressed her up like a sumo wrestler; she was wearing knee and elbow pads-where the hell had _those_ come from?-and had pillows secured around her stomach and back, held in place by several of Lisbon's belts. Oh God, had he actually gone through her _drawers_? Lisbon forced a smile and tried to suppress the urge to punch him right then and there.

"Wow, Mimi; that's quite a…outfit you've got there," she said through clenched teeth.

"Thank you," Mimi giggled. "I told Patrick I was afraid cutting my knees and elbows-that happened to my friend Maya once, and she had to go the hospital and get stitches. So Patrick dressed me up in pillows so I couldn't get hurt!"

Lisbon shook her head and smiled; only Jane.

"So what do you say? Ready to ride that bike once and for all?" Jane asked, getting an eager nod from Mimi in response. "Well then what are we waiting for?"

They both raced to where Mimi's bike still lay crookedly on the grass and tugged it back onto the sidewalk. Jane held it upright while Mimi climbed onto the seat and continued to hold on while she began to pedal. They started out slow, but then increased speed until Jane had to run to keep a grip on the handlebars. When he eventually let go so he could catch his breath, Mimi froze up and stopped pedaling; causing the bike to tip over. Lisbon expected her to get angry and start crying again, but she didn't; she calmly stood up, brushed the dirt off of her shorts, and got right back on.

They repeated this ritual until finally, just as darkness was starting to set in, she did it. Lisbon wasn't expecting it to happen, so when Jane let go and Mimi kept on pedaling, it fully surprised her.

At first, Mimi seemed just as amazed as Lisbon was, but once she got over the initial shock, she couldn't hold back her excitement. By the time she braked the bike at the end of the sidewalk, Jane, Lisbon, and Will were almost caught up with her.

As soon as she hopped off the seat, Lisbon pulled her into a hug, followed by Jane and Will.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetie," Lisbon said, meaning every word. "You did a great job."

"I did it!" Mimi squealed happily. "I actually did it! Can I ride again? Please, just one more time?"

Lisbon glanced at Jane and one look at his face told her what her answer should be.

"Okay, but just one more time, it's getting dark out."

"Yay! Thank you, Teresa!"

"You know Jane, you really do have a way with kids, even if you _are _a pain in the ass," Lisbon commented as she stood with Jane at the bottom of the driveway, watching as Mimi rode to the end of the sidewalk and back, with Will running so close behind her he was practically tripping on the back wheel.

"Why thank you, Lisbon," he replied, smirking mischievously. "You should see the rest of the tricks I've got up my sleeve."

"Oh, I'm sure I will at some point." She grinned at him. "And I'm sure I'll get in trouble for them."

"Have a little faith, Lisbon; have a little faith." Their conversation was cut short by Mimi zooming past them up the driveway, with a breathless Will not far behind.

Mimi complained about not wanting to go inside, but was silenced by Lisbon's promises about getting to ride plenty more tomorrow. She started to chatter excitedly, and continued to do so right up until Lisbon tucked her into bed-on the top bunk, of course. She began to drift towards unconsciousness the second her head hit the pillow, and she fell asleep mumbling about learning how to do a flip. Bike-riding would definitely fill her dreams tonight.

When Lisbon wandered back into the living room to turn off the lights, she found Jane fast asleep on the couch, his head resting on his hands. Unable to keep the grin off of her face, she padded across the carpet, careful not to wake him, and flicked off the lights, plunging the room into blackness. She started down the hallway towards her own room, but at the last moment turned around a placed a feather-soft kiss on Jane's lips.

"Good night Patrick," she whispered, and she could've sworn she saw the faintest of smiles appear on his face.

**A/N: I'd really appreciate reviews! :)**


	5. Something More

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or the characters.**

**A/N: This chapter also took a while to get it the way I wanted, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. For all of the Jisbon fans out there, this chapter is for you. (I'm a Jisbon fan myself.) I've had one or two people ask if Jane and Lisbon will be a couple at the end of the story, and I can honestly say that I don't know yet. I'll probably decide as I'm writing it. Anyway, enjoy the story! Reviews would make my day! :)**

**Chapter 5: Something More **

"And make sure you don't feed them any strawberries, they're allergic; their bedtime is 8:30, and have them take a bath every night, and-."

"Lisbon, stop worrying so much; we'll be fine," Van Pelt assured her, laughing at Lisbon's frantic babbling. "You need to relax; it's just for one weekend."

"I know; and I'm sorry." Lisbon sighed, not meeting Van Pelt's eyes. "I'm still getting used to this. I would never forgive myself if…" she trailed off, not needing to explain any further.

"I understand," Van Pelt said sympathetically. "I know it must be hard. I promise, if anything happens, you'll be the first to know; if you have any concerns, I'm only a phone call away." Lisbon nodded, mentally cursing herself for appearing so weak.

"Thank you so much for doing this; I really appreciate it."

"No problem; so I'll drop them off here at around dinnertime on Sunday? Does that sound okay?"

"That sounds great; thank you again." Van Pelt gave her a reassuring smile, clearly seeing that Lisbon was still in doubt, before helping the kids into her car. Lisbon didn't go back inside until they'd driven around the corner, out of sight.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down; what was she so worried about anyway? It was just two nights. Besides, she really needed this time; school started on Monday, and while she'd already successfully finished most of the things on her list, she still hadn't found a babysitter. Monday would also be her first day back at work since late June-she only hoped spending two months away from the job wouldn't affect her or her career. Heaving another sigh, she pushed through her front door and was all at once amazed at how quiet it was; she couldn't decide if she liked it better this way. After so many months of nonstop noise, the sudden silence made her feel strange, almost lonely.

Trying to ignore the feeling, she settled into the couch with a fresh mug of coffee, a yellow highlighter, and this week's newspaper, ready to get down to business. But for some reason, she found it incredibly hard to concentrate; perhaps it was the lack of sound that was throwing her off. She turned the television on and turned up the volume, figuring it may help, but it did nothing except thwart her focus even more.

She inwardly scolded herself and turned her attention back to the newspaper; another thirty minutes passed and she'd still gotten nowhere. She couldn't seem to process any of the information she was reading; she couldn't separate one ad from another in her brain; the phone numbers ran together, the names were all mixed up, and the addresses were meaningless. She was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Who could be visiting her at this hour? It was nearly 10 pm; oh god, 10 pm already? It couldn't be Van Pelt, could it? No, if something was wrong she would've called.

"Who is it?" Lisbon yelled, not wanting to move from her perch on the couch.

"Guess!" Lisbon recognized the voice right away; great, just what she needed. A pesky, blonde-haired consultant invading her personal space. She was about to tell him to go away, but never got the chance; the door swung open and Jane stepped inside, carrying a bulging brown paper bag. Lisbon eyed it warily, afraid of what the contents may be.

"Don't worry, it's not a bomb," Jane teased, reading her thoughts in that way that annoyed her yet at the same time astonished her. "Where are the kids?"

"They're spending the weekend at Van Pelt's place; why?"

"Don't get all suspicious, I was just wondering. What are you doing? Or is it top secret?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Very funny," she deadpanned. "I'm just looking for a babysitter."

"Find anybody yet?" He grabbed a peppermint from the bowl on the counter and popped it into his mouth.

"Can't you ask first?" Lisbon said.

"Oh, sorry; Lisbon, may I have a peppermint?"

She just rolled her eyes and moved them back to the newspaper; she only had two days to find a good babysitter, and she couldn't afford to waste any more time. So needless to say, she wasn't exactly thrilled when Jane decided to stick around. It was hard to throw him out though, after all he'd done for her the past few months; the least she could do was provide him with some company. He must get bored sitting around by himself in an empty motel room all the time. To be honest, she was actually sort of glad for the distraction; it gave her an excuse to put off her chores.

And when he pulled a huge, frosted chocolate cake out of the paper bag he'd brought with him, there was no way she was going to make him leave. Lisbon had never had a very big sweet tooth, unlike her younger brothers, but Jane knew she was a sucker for chocolate.

Which is how she unwillingly ended up sitting next to Jane on the couch, wearing a chocolate mustache and listening to stories about the cases he'd closed while she'd been absent from work. The next time she looked at the clock, it was nearly 1:30 am. Reluctantly, she turned back to Jane.

"Thank you for the cake Jane-and the stories. I wish we could talk longer, but I really have to get to work if I want to find a good babysitter by Monday." Lisbon expected him to get up and leave, but he remained in his current position, looking as if he had no intention of getting up any time soon. She fleetingly wondered if he knew about the kiss, but dismissed the thought; he'd been out cold when it happened. Hadn't he? Suddenly Lisbon wasn't so sure.

"Well?" he said, bringing Lisbon back to reality.

"Huh?" she asked, her cheeks flushing bright red. Had she missed something? Jane just chuckled.

"You said you had to find a babysitter," he explained. Lisbon still didn't understand exactly what was going on; was he offering to _help _her? Judging by the way he just sat there, his gaze flicking from Lisbon to the newspaper in her lap, she was guessing the answer to that question was yes.

By 4:00 am, they'd found three suitable babysitting candidates, polished off the rest of the chocolate cake, and unknowingly eaten a third of the bowl of peppermints. Several times through those two and half hours, Lisbon's mind had wandered back to the kiss; she desperately wanted to know if Jane knew about it, but she wasn't about to come right out and ask him.

"So, are you going to talk to these girls tomorrow?" Jane asked her, toying with a candy wrapper.

"Yeah, probably; I want to get it out of the way. I'm sick of worrying about it." Jane nodded and she once again caught herself thinking about the kiss; when she looked back up at Jane, his eyes were sparkling and his lips were curved into a small, lopsided smile. In that moment, she was almost positive that he knew; he reached out and wiped a spot of chocolate from her cheek with his thumb. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her head upwards until she was looking straight into his ice-blue eyes; her heart skipped a beat. Slowly, he brought his face closer to hers until their noses were nearly touching; then, as quickly as he dared, he pressed his lips against hers. She didn't resist; in fact, she did quite the opposite. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

When they finally pulled away, Lisbon couldn't seem to find her voice; she wasn't quite sure how she felt about this yet. Would it be wrong to say she'd enjoyed it? It would be a downright lie to say she hadn't. But Jane didn't seem to mind her lack of words; he smiled warmly at her before grabbing his suit jacket and smoothly exiting the townhouse.

Just when Lisbon thought he was gone, his head popped back inside the open doorway.

"By the way, I know what you did," he said, causing Lisbon's cheeks to turn pink for the second time that night. "I was wide awake." And with that, he left, shutting the door softly behind him. Several minutes later, headlights flashed through the window as he maneuvered out of the driveway, leaving Lisbon alone with a mindful of unanswered questions.

**A/N: Again, I'd absolutely LOVE reviews! :)**


	6. Up All Night

**Disclaimer****: I don't own the Mentalist or the characters.**

**A/N: It was very hard to get the emotion just right in this chapter, especially where Jane talks about his daughter and the ending, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. And I did figure out the ending, but I want your opinion-should Jane and Lisbon be a couple at the end or not? I'd really appreciate reviews sharing your thoughts, both about this and what you think of the chapter! **

**Chapter 6: Up All Night**

Lisbon sank into her desk chair and looked forlornly at the stack of papers before her. There was nothing she wanted to do less than go through all of those forms, as she'd done so many times in the past and most likely would never stop doing until the day she retired.

The rest of the team had just finished case-closed pizza and headed home, but Lisbon had opted to take advantage of the fact that the kids were with the babysitter and get this stupid paperwork out of the way. She knew the longer she put it off, the taller the pile would grow. It had seemed doable several hours ago when she'd called Amy, the babysitter, and asked her to stay later than normal, but now, actually sitting here, the prospect of going through all of them within an hour seemed an impossible feat. Especially when her mind kept going back to Jane, who, ironically, was the very cause of all of the papers on her desk; as usual, he'd found some way to annoy, insult, offend, or disobey one person or another throughout the case. And as usual, Lisbon was the one who had to pay for it. However, she did have to admit that her life would be pretty boring without his constantly harassing her. Not that she'd ever tell him that.

Right as Lisbon completed the first form, her phone rang. Another case already? When she pressed talk, it wasn't an officer on the other line-it was Amy.

"Teresa?" Amy sounded nervous. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Amy, it's me; what's wrong? Is everything all right?" It was a few seconds before Amy replied.

"No, well, yes, but it's nothing that bad or anything. Don't be mad; it's just that, everything was fine. Mimi was riding her bike, and then, I saw a car coming so I yelled at her to get out of the way, and then, and then…" Amy trailed off and Lisbon's stomach clenched in fear. Had Mimi been hit by a car?

"Amy, tell me what's going on right now," Lisbon demanded, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"I can't, my phone is about to die; just meet us at the hospital, okay?"

Then the line went dead; it took a little while for the full urgency of the situation to register in Lisbon's brain. _Mimi is injured. I have to get to the hospital. _She had to repeat this to herself several times to will herself to stand up and put one foot in front of the other.

However, once she was up and moving, she couldn't get out of there fast enough; she tripped over herself in her haste to get to her car, and her hands were shaking so badly that she very nearly dropped the keys. Pulling out of the parking lot took far longer than she'd anticipated, and by the time she reached the main road, nearly half an hour had gone by.

When she encountered a red light, she rummaged around in her purse, fumbling for her cell. By the time she found it, the light had turned yellow and she had to wait until the next stoplight to dial Jane's number. She'd sort of been avoiding talking to him one-on-one ever since that night in her apartment as she was still trying to sort out her emotions, but there was no way she was going to face this without him by her side. Jane's concerned voice broke into her thoughts.

"Lisbon?" he asked, slightly confused. Why was she calling him this late? It was quarter to midnight.

"Jane, I need you to meet me at the hospital," Lisbon choked out.

"What? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No, it's Mimi; Amy called, said there'd been an accident and she'd tell me when I got there; look, I have to go, I'm still driving. But can you please get here soon?"

"I'll come as fast as I can."

Twenty minutes later, Lisbon anxiously paced the waiting room of the children's Intensive Care Unit. Amy had left with Will right after telling Lisbon what'd happened, but Jane still hadn't showed up.

When he finally barreled through the doors at 12:15, Lisbon flung herself into his arms; he hugged her against his chest as she wept, rubbing comforting circles on her back and stroking her hair. Lisbon had promised herself she wasn't going to cry, especially not in front of Jane, but obviously that ship had sailed; she found herself crying a lot lately. Maybe it was because she had so much more to lose now. When they broke apart, it took Lisbon several tries to find the words she was looking for.

"Mimi was riding her bike," Lisbon said, accepting the tissue Jane offered her and wiping away the tears. "Amy saw a car, so she shouted at Mimi to get out of the way. She did, but one of the wheels caught on a crack in the pavement and she flipped over." Lisbon almost couldn't continue she was so upset, but she forced herself to; he had to know the whole story. "They think she may have head injuries, and a broken bone or two; they said it would've been a whole lot worse if she wasn't wearing a helmet."

"Where is she now? Have they told you anything yet?"

"I don't know where she is, nobody will tell me anything," Lisbon whimpered. "I'm so scared."

"I know, I am too; but everything's going to be okay. Like you said, it could've been a lot worse, right?" Lisbon didn't answer, just leaned her head against his shoulder and allowed him to console her.

After Jane had managed to calm Lisbon down, he'd gone off in search of a doctor or a nurse to fill them in on Mimi's condition. When he located one, standing just outside the elevator, he made a beeline for her.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked. It startled Jane how much the nurse resembled Lisbon; the same shoulder-length dark hair, petite build, and green eyes, although hers were a minty color while Lisbon's were more of an emerald. He'd been prepared to yell at her, grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she provided him with information, but he softened when he noticed the similarity.

"Yes, you can; I'm here for Mimi Hightower. She was in an accident a couple of hours ago, and my..." he paused, unsure of how to refer to Lisbon. Girlfriend? No. Colleague? Definitely not. Mimi's guardian? Too formal. He settled for the first thing that popped into his head. "My friend and I would really like an update on her condition."

"I'm not familiar with that patient, but I'll see what I can do," the nurse told him, smiling kindly. He thanked her before returning to Lisbon.

"Well, what did she say?" Lisbon inquired impatiently.

"She said she'd see what she can do," Jane said. Lisbon groaned and buried her face in her hands. She slumped into one of the worn plastic chairs that lined the perimeter of the room, and Jane dropped into the one beside her. He put a protective arm around her thin shoulders and pulled her closer to him, squeezing as tightly as he could without physically hurting her. She leaned into the embrace, grateful for the comfort. They had the entire area to themselves, and for a while, the only sounds were the doors opening and closing and the nurse at the front desk talking in a hushed tone. Lisbon was close to falling asleep when Jane broke the silence.

"I remember when Charlotte fell down the stairs," he said suddenly, catching Lisbon off guard with the unexpected mention of his daughter.

"Jane, you don't have to-," she began, but he put a finger to her lips, silencing her.

"I want to," he breathed, fearing that if he stopped, he wouldn't be able to start again. He took a deep breath and launched into his story. "Angela was out with a friend; I was supposed to be keeping an eye on Charlotte, but I got wrapped up in something else. Next thing I know, I hear her screaming and I start running; I don't think I've ever run that fast. But it wasn't fast enough; when I got there, she was lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs." Tears began to slide down his cheeks, and Lisbon took his hand, the cold metal of his wedding band digging into her palm. It took some time before he could muster the strength to keep going. "I drove her to the hospital; while she was getting X-rays done, I called Angela. She wasn't happy with me, as I'd expected, but she said she understood that these things happen, and that nobody's perfect. But it still didn't make me feel better; even after we found out all she'd suffered was a sprained wrist, the guilt didn't go away. Whenever I saw that cast on her arm, I couldn't help thinking that it was my fault it was there. After they removed the cast and the feeling gradually faded away, I always thought, I never want to experience that again. I promised myself I wouldn't make that mistake anymore; but I did, and something far worse happened." Lisbon wasn't sure where he was going like this, but it touched her all the same; that he was willing to do this for her.

"The point is, Lisbon, it's awful to see your children get hurt; you're always going to blame yourself, whether it was truly your fault or not. I know exactly what you must be going through right now, and I'm here for you; I want you to know that."

Lisbon didn't know what to say; she stared down at their entwined fingers, trying to come up with some way to thank him for what he'd just done, but she never got the chance. They were interrupted by three familiar faces bursting through the doors; Lisbon hardly had time to blink before Van Pelt yanked her into a hug.

"How did you know?" Lisbon asked, dumbfounded. She didn't remember calling them; Jane answered her question without her having to ask.

"I told them," he said. "I thought you could use some extra shoulders to cry on." For the second time in five minutes, Lisbon was at a complete loss for words, but the others didn't seem to notice or care. Once everybody was up to speed, Jane offered to go get everyone coffee from the food court.

The whole way there, he thought about how comfortable he'd felt talking about his family with Lisbon. He'd hardly spoken of his wife and child since he first discovered that red smiley face and it had felt good to finally share his past with somebody. He'd been half-afraid that she wouldn't be able to handle it and walk off; hell, he'd been afraid he himself wouldn't be able to handle it. But he should've known better; after all, this was Lisbon they were talking about. The same Lisbon who'd always stuck by him, through thick and thin; who'd risked her life for him more times than he could count; who'd never stopped helping him in his quest for revenge against the madman that took his family away from him. The same Lisbon who'd continuously put up with him for all these years. Most people would've left him behind a long time ago, but not her. And he had a feeling she never would; he wondered if she felt the same way about him.

Jane was so wrapped up in his own little world that he didn't notice the woman heading straight towards him until he collided with her head-on. One of the cups of coffee he was carrying lost its lid and sprayed both him and the woman with its contents. The hot liquid stung his eyes and he backed up into the wall, causing him to drop the remaining four cups. Within a matter of seconds, the floor and walls and even a small portion of the ceiling were drenched in the caffeinated fluid.

He rubbed frantically at his eyes, desperately trying to clear his vision; when the world came back into proper focus, he found a coffee-soaked Lisbon standing in front of him. Except, wait a minute, that wasn't Lisbon; her eyes were different. It was the nurse he'd spoken with earlier.

"I'm so sorry! Um, uh, clean-up on aisle 9!" he sputtered, searching his pockets for the napkins he'd picked up from the food court. He began to wipe at the brown splotches that now stained the nurse's sky blue uniform, expecting her to be angry at the mess he'd just made, but instead she threw her head back and started laughing.

Jane couldn't do anything but stand there with a bewildered expression plastered on his face, still clutching the wad of soggy napkins. He was clearly startled by the woman's bizarre outburst, but his reaction, or lack thereof, only seemed to make her laugh harder.

When she caught her breath, she stuck her hand out and Jane nervously shook it.

"I'm Caroline," she introduced, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Patrick," he told her. "Patrick Jane."

"Well, Patrick, don't worry about the spill; it isn't the first time it's happened. Actually, I was just looking for you."

"You…were?"

"Yes; you are here for Mimi Hightower, aren't you? We met in the waiting room a while back."

"Yes, yes, I remember; so how is she? Will she be all right?" he asked, fully alert now. The impatience in his words was evident.

"She's going to be fine," Caroline told him. Jane felt a huge wave of relief wash over him; he couldn't wait to tell Lisbon. "She sustained a broken arm and a mild concussion, but nothing a sling and plenty of rest won't fix. You can go and see her whenever you want."

"Thank you so much; you've been a big help," Jane said.

"Don't mention it." Jane thanked her one more time before turning and racing towards where Lisbon and the rest of the team were waiting, nearly slipping in the forgotten puddle of coffee.

"Lisbon!" he yelled as he skidded through the doorway. "Lisbon!"

"What is it, Jane? And I thought you were going to get coffee," Lisbon said, visibly irritated at the ruckus he was making. They were in a public place, after all, and there were people trying to sleep right down the hallway. But Jane had absolutely no regard for his behavior; not right then, anyway. Well, he never did, but especially not now.

"Lisbon, I just talked to the nurse," he cried, grabbing her by her hands and tugging her to her feet. Lisbon's eyes widened and a flicker of hope passed through them, which made Jane even happier delivering the good news. "She's okay; she has a broken arm and a minor concussion, but she's okay!"

"Oh thank God," Lisbon murmured, burying her head in the crook of Jane's neck. "When can we see her?"

"We can go now if you want to."

"Even better; what room is she in?"

"Um, that I'm not sure; but do you want some time alone with her? If you do, we'll all understand."

"No, that's okay; I'll get plenty of alone time with her once we're back home."

"All right; whatever you want. But before we do anything, we have to find out her room number."

"Good point," she said, sauntering up to the front desk, the cheeriness already returning to her voice. As they walked to Mimi's room, Jane noticed a spring in her step he never had before; he didn't think he'd ever seen her quite this happy. Except maybe when he surprised her with that pony…he always wondered what happened to the animal. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

When they entered Mimi's room, Mimi was overjoyed; her arm was raised up in a sling, and she had three stitches just above her left eyebrow. Lisbon rushed to her bedside and attempted to hug her, but it was difficult and awkward due to the sling.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Lisbon whispered into Mimi's shoulder. Even after they broke away, Lisbon continued to clutch Mimi's smaller, darker hand in her own larger one, half-afraid to let go.

"I won't," the young girl promised. "Cross my heart." For several moments, the room went completely silent; no one knew quite what to say. Even Jane seemed to be at a loss for words, which was highly unusual for him; usually he couldn't seem to shut up. Lisbon suspected it was because his mind had wandered back to Charlotte, and it broke her heart just to think how much he must be hurting. This time, everything had turned out okay and Lisbon had gotten her happy ending; but Jane hadn't, and it was so incredibly unfair it made Lisbon sick, and in that split second she understood his want-his need-to kill the monster who had done this to him. She mentally promised herself to do everything she could to help him do just that; right as Lisbon was contemplating walking up to Jane and throwing her arms around him, just as he'd done for her, Van Pelt decided to take the liberty of breaking the awkward silence.

"Hi, Mimi," Van Pelt said gently, kneeling beside Lisbon on the cream-colored linoleum floor. "I'm Grace; I heard you had an accident, huh?" Mimi nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, it was really scary," she said, looking at Van Pelt earnestly.

"Do you want to tell us what happened?" Mimi nodded again, her chocolate-colored eyes wider than normal.

"I was showing my babysitter, Amy, how I can ride a two-wheeler. Amy said I was doing such a good job that I could ride in the street for a little bit, instead of on the sidewalk, as long as I promised to be super careful because she didn't want anything bad to happen. I said I would; but then my shoelace came untied and got stuck in the pedal, so I reached down to try and fix it. I didn't see the car coming." Mimi's lower lip began to tremble and unshed tears bloomed in her eyes. "Amy started yelling at me; I didn't know what was wrong. It was getting dark out and I couldn't see very well; when I looked up, I saw car lights and I started pedaling really fast. But my shoelace was still all tangled up; the pedals stopped working and my bike hit a big crack in the ground. I did a flip; it felt like I was flying, but I wasn't; after I landed, my arm was hurting a lot and everything was spinning." She turned to Jane for this next part, mustering a grin. "Too bad you weren't there to dress me in pillows." Jane smiled at the girl.

"Yeah, too bad," he echoed; when he didn't say anything else, Mimi resumed her story.

"Anyway, I started crying, and Amy ran over to me. She looked scared; she called somebody on the phone and an ambulance came and got me. The sirens hurt my ears, and the lights made my eyes sting; I didn't want to ride alone, I wanted Amy to come with me, but she said she couldn't. She said that her and my brother were going to drive in a car right behind us and that she'd see me real soon. But I was still scared, and my arm still hurt; a man gave me a shot and covered me up with a blanket. I asked where we were going, and he told me that my arm was broken and they had to take me to the hospital so the doctors could fix it. I asked if they could make it stop hurting, and he said they could, as soon as we got to the hospital. I started to feel sleepy then, and the world was going around in circles again, so I closed my eyes to make it stop. I think I fell asleep; when I woke up, I was here." The tears overflowed and spilled down Mimi's cheeks, dripping down off of her chin. Lisbon, who was fighting back tears of her own, reached out with her hand and wiped them away.

"Don't cry, Mimi; it's okay. It's over now," Lisbon said, giving her a watery smile.

"I know; but my bike isn't. It's all broken and bent up!" Mimi wailed. "I'm sorry, Teresa; are you mad?"

"No, Mimi, of course I'm not mad; I'm just glad that you're safe."

"Really? Because you don't _look _glad; you look upset," Mimi observed, studying Lisbon's tear-streaked face.

"Oh sweetie, these are happy tears," Lisbon explained.

"People cry when they're happy? That doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't," Jane agreed, appearing from behind Cho and Rigsby. He opened his mouth to say something else, but a doctor dressed in a Bugs Bunny tie swept into the room and announced that visiting hours were over. Lisbon, being the guardian, was given permission to stay, but the others had to leave. Jane put up a fight at first, but reluctantly allowed Cho to lead him out to his car after the doctor threatened to ban him as a visitor.

Once everybody was gone, the doctor went about her standard procedure-she checked Mimi's blood pressure and heart rate, made sure the sling was still in place, and tested her vision to make sure she wasn't showing any signs of a more serious head injury. When she finished, she informed Lisbon that everything looked perfectly fine, and that Mimi could go back home in a day or two. She handed Mimi a lollipop-sugar free of course-and thanked her for being such a good patient. Then she left the room, saying she'd check back in with them tomorrow morning.

Watching Mimi indulge in the cherry-flavored treat reminded Lisbon of the day she had to scold her for eating candy when she wasn't supposed to, and she marveled at how far she'd come since then.

"Teresa?" Mimi said shyly. Lisbon turned to look at Mimi; she'd almost forgotten she was there.

"You should probably get to sleep, Mimi; the doctor said you need to get a lot of rest if you want to get better."

"I know, I will. I just wanted to tell you something first." Mimi hesitated and began to fidget with a loose strand of hair, something Jane would call an "obvious indication of nervousness."

"Well, what is it?"

"I love you."

**A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter so far, and it's definitely better than the last. But I already know what I think of it; I want to know what you think of it! Please, please, PLEASE review! :) **


	7. Moving On

**Disclaimer: Same as always. :(**

**A/N: I'm sorry for not updating for so long! I've been really busy, and I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to take this chapter, but here it is. It isn't my best work, but I don't think it is my worst either! I promise the next chapter will be better! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**Chapter 7: Moving On**

Lisbon stood gathered with the rest of her team in a crooked semicircle around her computer while Van Pelt ran a database search on a suspect they'd managed to scrounge up for their latest case. It was nearing 6 pm, and Lisbon felt guilty for making Amy work late for the third time this week; another night that Mimi and Will would be stuck eating greasy take-out food for dinner and watching cheesy cartoons for entertainment. But Lisbon couldn't exactly do anything about it; they were right in the thick of a very important and seemingly impossible case.

It involved a double murder, a triple kidnapping, and possibly another Red John copycat. Every lead they uncovered led to a dead end, and whoever the killer was, they certainly weren't a sloppy one; they'd covered their tracks completely, not leaving so much as a single fingerprint behind. They hadn't even found the murder weapon; if things kept going at this rate, it would take weeks, maybe even months, before the killer was put behind bars.

It definitely wasn't a case Lisbon felt like dealing with right now. It wasn't that she didn't like her job anymore; she loved her job, she always had and she still did. She loved the feeling of pride she got when she snapped a pair of handcuffs around the wrists of another criminal brought to justice. While she hated telling people that one of their friends or family members was dead, she loved informing them that they'd caught the person responsible for all of that pain and grief. She liked being the good guy.

However, she didn't want Mimi and Will spending every minute of their waking hours with a babysitter, especially a babysitter that she'd almost had to fire due to Mimi's accident; ever since Mimi had uttered those three heartfelt words that first night in the hospital several weeks ago, and Lisbon had said them back, realizing for the first time that they were true, she'd made every effort to do as many things with her and her brother as she could. But between work and school, that wasn't very often; if she only saw them for an hour every morning, how would they ever manage to feel like a family?

Lisbon shook her head, shaking away those thoughts, and concentrated on the computer screen; the search had finished, and had promising results.

"Daniel Walker has a record," Van Pelt announced. "He has charges pending for numerous attempts at armed robbery and physical assault on nearly a dozen innocent people. He's been arrested eight times over the last three years, but he's never successfully committed an actual crime-he was always caught red-handed. He's currently being held in San Francisco."

"If he's in jail, how could he have murdered Andrew and Julia Hyland and kidnapped their three children?" Jane pointed out, running a hand through his sand-colored curls.

"He could've had somebody do it for him," Rigsby suggested. "Guys like this are usually connected."

Jane just shrugged and retreated to his couch, where he proceeded to lie down, cross his arms over his chest, and close his eyes.

"Uh, what do you think you're doing?" Lisbon asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he murmured, not bothering to open his eyes and actually look at her.

"We have a top-priority case; this is no time for you to take a nap!" Lisbon scolded, kicking the sofa agitatedly. Jane didn't so much as flinch.

"Lisbon, calm down; Daniel Walker's not going anywhere. It's late, why don't you go home? We can keep going tomorrow; lack of sleep isn't going to be beneficial to any of us. You know you want to." What Lisbon wanted was to strangle him; she was already beyond stressed out and he was only making things ten times worse. She was tired of putting up with his constant crap.

"You know what, Jane? Screw you! Take a nap, do whatever you want, see if I care! We'll manage just fine without you!" With that, she wheeled back around to face her colleagues, who were pretending to be fascinated with Daniel Walker's record. Lisbon's cheeks were flame-red as she began to bark out orders.

"Van Pelt, go visit Walker in San Francisco; take Rigsby."

"Okay, will do; um, boss, you do seem a little wound up though. Maybe Jane's right; maybe you should take a break. We can handle it on our own for a couple of hours," Van Pelt ventured tentatively.

"I'm fine, okay? I'm not wound up, I'm fine. Just mind your own business and do your job," Lisbon snapped. Van Pelt's face crumpled and her eyes glistened with unshed tears; keeping her gaze trained on the floor, she fled the room, not looking back once.

Rigsby took off after her and Cho, still wearing his signature stoic expression, followed him, leaving Jane and Lisbon alone.

"Don't say a word," Lisbon warned, shooting Jane a death glare. She wasn't in the mood talk about her emotions, least of all with Jane. But as usual, Jane refused to listen to her.

"Somebody's grumpy," he teased, purposely trying to get on her nerves. That's when Lisbon lost it.

"I'm not grumpy, okay, I'm exhausted! I didn't choose for things to be this way, I didn't plan on having to become a single parent overnight! The past five months have been a living nightmare for me, and you have no idea what that's like! It just happened, and you have no idea what it's like to have your life turned upside down like that!"

The outrage on Jane's face was obvious as he flew to his feet. He was standing so close that Lisbon could feel his breath on her cheek, and the anger in his eyes was so strong that she had to look away.

"I don't know what it's like?" he yelled. "I don't know what it's like to have your life turned upside down? My family was murdered, Lisbon, murdered! My wife, my little girl, they were ripped away from me, and it was my fault! Do you think I chose that? Do you think I wanted that for them? They were my whole world, Lisbon, and because of me they're gone! And you don't have any idea what it's like to live with that kind of guilt, you never will! You should be grateful for what you have."

With that, Jane stormed off towards the attic, leaving a positively stunned Lisbon completely by herself. She'd never seen him like that before, not ever. She couldn't stand it when he was mad at her, and she desperately wanted to run up to him and apologize, but somehow she knew he wouldn't have it. Not yet anyway; she needed to give him the space and time to cool down before she tried to reconcile.

God, she felt like such a jackass; how could she have been so stupid, so oblivious? She could only imagine what everyone must think of her right now; Lisbon suddenly felt like crying. She felt terrible; she'd taken her anger out on people who were only looking out for her and they hadn't deserved it. She knew she'd crossed a line, especially by bringing up Angela and Charlotte, but she didn't know how to make it right; she'd never been good at apologies, and somehow she knew a simple "I'm sorry" wouldn't suffice, not this time. She combed her brain for a plan that would mend her fractured friendships, but came up empty-handed.

Heaving a sigh, she decided to take Jane's suggestion and go home and get some sleep; she gathered her purse, her car keys, and her jacket into her arms and slowly trekked out to the parking lot. Night was already beginning to fall, despite the early hour, and the first few stars had appeared in the darkening sky.

As Lisbon groped for the car's door handle in the dim light, she heard footsteps approaching and turned to find Jane standing a few feet away, staring at her solemnly. The fury that had minutes earlier filled his piercing blue eyes and been replaced by a sort of hollow sadness; it broke Lisbon's heart. Regret coursed through her veins and she opened her mouth in an attempt to make amends, but the words never made it past her lips.

Before Lisbon knew what was happening, Jane had pulled her into a passionate kiss. Her tongue grazed his bottom lip and his arms went around her waist automatically, pulling her closer. She melted into him and let the rest of the world fall away; at that moment, she didn't care who saw them. All of the stress and the worry and the pain that had plagued her since the beginning of the summer evaporated, leaving Lisbon feeling happier than she'd ever thought possible.

They didn't pull away until air became a necessity and even then Lisbon didn't want the moment to end. Jane gave her one of his dazzling smiles and then started to walk towards his ancient contraption of a car, but Lisbon locked onto his wrist, stopping him.

"Jane, I'm so, so, so sorry," she whispered, tightening her grip on his arm for fear he'd take off on her again. "You didn't do anything wrong, and I didn't mean to lose my temper. I wasn't thinking, I-I didn't even realize what I was saying until after it was too late and I never meant to-."

"Teresa," Jane interrupted, surprising her with the use of her first name. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled at her sadly. "I know you didn't mean it; I know. And I'm sorry too; whenever somebody brings up Angela and Charlotte, even if that wasn't their intention, I get defensive. I know you're going through a lot right now, and I understand why you snapped. I love you, Teresa; I need you to know that."

Lisbon's heart lifted and her spirits soared.

"Was that an overly nice way of saying "apology accepted"?" she asked, feeling as if she were walking on air.

"How did I do?" he joked. "Was it too much?"

"Not at all; in fact, it was just what I was hoping to hear." She grinned at him, but then her gaze flickered to the golden wedding band still encircling Jane's finger and she felt her heart sink. Jane noticed the sudden change in Lisbon's mood and he followed her line of vision.

"Does it bother you?" he whispered. "That I still wear the ring?"

"No, no, not at all," Lisbon babbled. "No, of course it doesn't."

"Lisbon," he said, his voice firm. "I'm not mad; just tell me the truth."

"Well, I guess it does bother me a little. I mean, it just feels wrong, kissing you while you're still wearing it. But I get why you do, and Patrick, if you're not ready for this, I completely understand." Jane looked away, unable to bear the pained expression that took over Lisbon's face as she spoke, and began to absentmindedly twirl the ring around his finger.

"I love you, but I don't want to make you do anything that you're uncomfortable with," Lisbon continued. "If you can't do this, just say so and we can forget it ever happened."

"But I don't want to forget," Jane murmured. "The only reason I didn't remove the ring was because I felt like by doing so I would be betraying them. Now I realize that that isn't what I would be doing at all; I'd just be setting myself free. I'm tired of dwelling on the past, and while I'll never stop missing them, never stop loving them, maybe it's time that I move on. And I think that I'm ready to take that step."

"You don't have to do this for me," Lisbon said. "I don't want you to do this for me."

"It isn't only for you; it's also for me, and I want to do this. I have to," Jane said, taking Lisbon's hands in his own. "If I don't, I won't ever be able to let go."

"But I don't know if I can do this!" Lisbon cried. "I can't live up to them, and I don't want to feel like a replacement. They meant everything to you, Jane, and I highly doubt that you'll be able to just forget about them like that!"

"Lisbon, I won't be forgetting them!" Jane yelled. "It's not like that! And how could you ever think that you're just a replacement? You are so much more to me than that-you always have been!" It took every ounce of strength in Lisbon's body not to break down right there.

"I want this to work, I really do," she breathed.

"Then stop resisting," Jane said. "Stop thinking about it and just try it; who knows what you might miss if you don't take a chance once in a while? You can't always assume that the worst possible thing is what will end up happening; nothing in life is ever guaranteed." A coy smile tugged at the corners of Lisbon's lips, where she could still taste Jane's kiss.

"Are you trying to hypnotize me into saying yes?" Lisbon asked, her tone light and playful.

"Not exactly-why, did I succeed?"

"Yes, you did-but we have to be very cautious. You know it's against CBI regulations to date within the unit."

"Meh, who cares about rules? They're always getting in the way," Jane said, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Jane, I'm serious! If we get caught, our careers will be put at a serious risk. Please, you have to promise me you'll keep this between us, at least for now."

"Fine," Jane huffed. "Although I never was one for keeping secrets." Lisbon smacked him on the arm and he chuckled; he loved purposely getting on her nerves, even though her reactions sometimes caused him physical pain. "I'm just kidding," he assured her.

"Good," she said. She glanced down at her watch and groaned. "I have to get home-Amy's probably wondering where the hell I am. I'm already paying her extra for working overtime and I can't afford anymore."

"Okay," Jane said, leaning in for one last kiss. "You better pray I don't get bored tonight and decide to tell everyone about us."

"Very funny," Lisbon replied flatly, but her face revealed her true feelings. It was all she could do to contain her expanding excitement. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, my dear," he teased. Even that simple term of endearment managed to curve Lisbon's mouth into a smile, and she was reminded of Jane's ability to transform her from a paranoid, thirty-something control freak into a giddy sixteen-year-old. She sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time that night; what the hell would she do without him?

**A/N: Please review! :)**


	8. How to Have Fun

**Disclaimer: Same as always. **

**A/N: Again, I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. At first I didn't know where I was going to take the story, so I had to figure that out, and then I was at my cousin's for a like a week and a half to celebrate her birthday. I'm not crazy about this chapter, and the next one (the Christmas chapter) will be way better. But for now, please review!**

**Chapter 8: How to Have Fun**

Lisbon was dragged out of her dreams-most of which involved none other than Patrick Jane-the following morning by a loud, forceful pounding on her front door. Still crossing the bridge between somnolence and consciousness, the brunette remained snuggled beneath the safety of her covers, not wanting her fantasies to end just yet.

However, when the banging and knocking became more incessant and persistent, she realized that it wasn't going to stop until she stopped it herself. Groaning, she pushed herself up on her elbows, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and padded softly down the corridor, treading lightly so as not to wake the still-slumbering Mimi and Will several doorways down.

Lisbon reluctantly reached for the brass doorknob, still trying to break out of her foggy, sleepy stupor, and figure out who would be visiting her at such an early hour. She was expecting to find some disgruntled, irate neighbor whom the kids had somehow aggravated or angered standing on her front stoop-it wouldn't have been the first time it'd happened-so she was delighted to find the very man who had occupied her dreams all night out there instead. He had his left hand balled into a fist, suspended awkwardly in midair, ready to deliver yet another blow to her front door, and a bag from Marie's Do-Nuts swinging lazily from his right wrist. His mouth was open in a small "o" but as soon as he saw Lisbon, it spread into a wide, white-toothed grin.

"Jane?" Lisbon asked, not bothering to conceal the delight in her voice. "What are you doing here?" He leaned forward and pecked her on the lips in response, causing a familiar flock of butterflies to take flight in her stomach. Without a moment's worth of hesitation, she placed her hands on his shoulders and boosted herself up on her tiptoes so she could return the kiss. Within seconds, things were exactly as they had been last night-absolutely perfect; a dizzying, wonderful, all-around perfect that made Lisbon's heart swell. She found it very difficult to think straight when she was kissing Jane, which might've been the reason she overlooked one important detail when she decided to make out with her consultant in the middle of the hallway. She didn't realize what might happen until it was too late to try and avoid.

"Teresa?" Lisbon wheeled around to find Mimi, still dressed in her ruffled pink nightgown, staring at them slack-jawed, her milky brown eyes taking up half of her face. "What are you doing?"

Lisbon knew there was no way that she could come up with a lie or excuse believable enough for a situation like this; the only option here was to tell the truth, but she had no idea how to do so. How could she possibly explain why she'd had her tongue in somebody else's mouth to an eight-year-old? Unable to find the proper words, she just stood there looking a deer frozen in headlights, a villain unfortunate enough to be caught red-handed. It probably wasn't helping that she was still tangled in Jane's arms.

Mimi put her hands to her hips, clearly expecting a reasonable, honest answer, and it was quite obvious that she wasn't going to back down or leave them alone until she got one.

Jane, seeing how uncomfortable and humiliated Lisbon was, stepped forward and kneeled down in front of Mimi so they were looking each other straight in the eye. Mimi had a determined, almost challenging look on her face, as if daring him to try and lie to her. Mimi had always been one to know exactly what she wanted, and she didn't give up until she got it; sometimes, Lisbon loved that about her. But sometimes, like right now for instance, Lisbon hated it.

"Mimi," Jane started, reaching out to trace several of the signatures printed on Mimi's neon purple cast with his fingertip. He traced Van Pelt's first, following the slant of her delicate, looping cursive.

"Well?" Mimi asked impatiently, expectancy lacing her voice. He moved onto Cho's name, written in plain uppercase letters, before beginning to speak again.

"Do you like princesses, Mimi? You know, like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White?" he asked, finishing Cho's name and starting on Lisbon's. Mimi bunched her eyebrows together, slightly confused as to how this was relevant, but nodded her head eagerly anyway. They were, after all, her favorite Disney characters.

Lisbon had a similar reaction; she frowned at the back of Jane's head and crossed her arms over her chest, wondering how the hell annoying, animated movie characters were going to help, but Jane turned his head slightly and shot her a look that said "I'm handling it." She sighed, but didn't interject.

"I thought you might," Jane said, swiveling back around to face Mimi. "You're just like my daughter was." Mimi smiled at that, seemingly unaware of the pained expression on Jane's face. "Anyway, do you know how Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and all of the other princesses find princes in those movies? And then at the end, they kiss and get married?" Another nod from Mimi. "Well do you know why they do that?"

Mimi cocked her head and shrugged her shoulders. "No; is it because they love each other?" she asked. Jane dropped his hand, which was mid-way through tracing his own name, to his side and smiled at Mimi.

"Exactly," he said. "It _is _because they love each other, but it isn't in the way you love your brother or the rest of your family. This kind is called falling in love, and when it happens, it's very, very special." Something seemed to click in Mimi's brain and a sly grin crossed her face.

"Did you and Teresa fall in love?" she questioned knowingly, thrilled at having gained a piece of knowledge that most people didn't possess. Jane nodded and beamed at her; he had always thought he would never have the ability to be happy again after his family was killed, to love anyone in the way he'd loved his wife. But then a certain CBI boss changed everything.

"Yes, we did," he admitted. "That's why we were kissing." Lisbon was highly impressed by Jane's spur-of-the-moment speech, and she envied how great he was with words and children. He just had a natural way with them and, though she hated to say it, it made her jealous. She was so immersed in her own thoughts that she missed Jane's next couple sentences, and completely forgot he was there until he gathered her back into his arms, holding her so close that their foreheads were touching.

"We really shouldn't do this here," she murmured. "I don't think fairytales will work as well on Will." Jane chuckled and kissed her one last time before reluctantly releasing her.

"Whatever you say, Lady Lisbon," he joked. "You're the boss." At that moment, something occurred to Lisbon.

"Wait, what time is it?" she asked, suddenly growing suspicious.

"I figure it's about half past nine," Jane said, a sparkle of mischief that she knew all too well dancing in his eyes. It meant he was up to something. He watched in amusement as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened, her facial expression almost identical to the one Mimi had displayed upon walking in on their make-out session.

"Half past nine?" she repeated, smacking Jane on the arm. "I was supposed to be at work over two hours ago! Why didn't my alarm go off? Why aren't _you _at work?" Jane laughed again; Lisbon was so cute when she panicked.

"I'm not going to work today-and neither are you," Jane said, his calm, collected manner greatly opposing Lisbon's current frenzied, distraught state. "Oh, and as for the alarm clock, I know what you may be thinking, but I swear I had nothing to do with it." Lisbon rolled her eyes and slapped him again. Lisbon rolled her eyes and slapped him again.

"Jane, we can't just take the day off! We're in the middle of a case, and a very difficult and important one at that! The team needs us; we can't just bail on them!" Lisbon protested, but Jane had already made up his mind.

"I'm sure they'll manage; now, we are going to go have some fun, and you are going to enjoy every minute of it," Jane said with an air of finality to his voice.

"Ex_cuse _me?" Lisbon cried. "Did you just say _fun_? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you've been working too hard and are in desperate need of a good time, which I can deliver; you said yourself last night that you were stressed, and everyone knows that the only cure for stress is fun," Jane said. "Now go get dressed, we're wasting precious time."

"Why, do you have something special planned?" Lisbon asked, eyeing him warily. If this was set to turn out anything like outings with Jane usually did, she wanted no part of it.

"As a matter of fact, I do-now stop asking questions and go do as I said. I'll get Mimi and Will ready for you; it will speed things up."

"The kids are coming too? But they'll miss school! Jane, where are we going?"

"I can't tell you; it would be like revealing the secret behind a magic trick, which takes all the fun out of it, which, coincidentally, is the whole reason we are having this conversation. Trust me, you'll find out soon enough. Now go." He made a shooing motion with his hand and then ducked into Mimi and Will's bedroom; it wasn't long before peals of laughter began to echo throughout the townhouse, identical to the ones that had vibrated off the walls of Jane's motel room so many months ago.

Lisbon's smile lingered long after the chortles subsided, remaining on her face from the time she stepped under the scalding hot spray of the shower to when she emerged from her bedroom dressed in her favorite worn pair of blue jeans. It felt good to wear comfortable, everyday clothing for once, rather than the stiff, scratchy work suits she normally wore.

When she entered the kitchen, she was pleasantly surprised to find Mimi and Will already fully dressed, seated at their respective spots around the small circular dining table, snacking on doughnuts. It usually took them half an eternity just to brush their teeth.

Jane was sitting directly across from Mimi, scarfing down a plate of scrambled eggs, taking dainty sips of tea from a china cup between chews and swallows. When he saw Lisbon standing in the doorway, partially obscured by a tall bookcase, he dabbed his mouth with a napkin and motioned her over. After several seconds of rummaging around in the bag he'd brought, he came up with a steaming cup of coffee in his left hand and one of the bear-claws he knew Lisbon loved in the other.

Lisbon graciously accepted the offer and took her usual seat at the table, which just so happened to be right next to Jane. As she bit into the cherry-filled treat, she tried to refrain from kissing Jane-it wouldn't be appropriate with the kids right there, curiously observing their every move, especially after what'd happened earlier. Now way was she making _that _mistake again; she snuck a glance at him, hoping Mimi and Will wouldn't notice, and he winked at her, making her heart dance.

"Teresa, guess what?" Will interrupted, struggling to speak around a huge bite of chocolate doughnut.

"Will, don't talk with your mouth full," Lisbon admonished, though she found it hard to be anything but joyful at the moment; finding out that the man you'd secretly loved for years felt the same way about you would do that to you.

"Sorry," Will mumbled, obediently gulping down the last of the doughnut; then he pointed at Jane, who was innocently sipping his tea. "Mr. Patrick's taking us to the zoo today! That means we get to skip school!"

"Yeah! We get to look at all the animals!" Mimi chimed in excitedly, twirling one of her small black braids around her index finger. "Like the polar bears and the tigers and the giraffes and the elephants!"

"And the lions and the wolves and the monkeys!" Will added on.

"Don't forget the cheetahs and the penguins!" Jane cried, sounding exactly as if he were Mimi and Will's age instead of a forty-year-old man. That was one of the things Lisbon had always adored about him-he was a kid at heart and didn't take the time to worry about what other people thought of him. Lisbon felt that she could be herself around Jane without having to constantly worry about being ridiculed or criticized; he made her feel safe and special, and Lisbon needed somebody like that in her life.

"Teresa?" Mimi urged, tugging at Lisbon's arm and bringing her back to reality. "Can we _please _go now? _Please?_" She looked up at Lisbon with her deep, chocolate-brown eyes,-the same eyes that had stared at Lisbon in awe mere hours before-the expression on her face so hopeful that it made it impossible for Lisbon to discourage her. Besides, she'd do anything to keep Mimi's mind from going back to the morning's previous turn of events.

"Of course we can; that is, just as soon as we get you two cleaned up," she said disdainfully, her tone of voice changing from warm to weary as she eyed the ring of powdered sugar encircling Mimi's mouth and the smears of frosting staining Will's cheeks.

This was only the first of several other obstacles and delays they encountered before finally hitting the road; the second occurred when Lisbon wholeheartedly, downright refused to let anyone go anywhere in Jane's outdated, piece-of-crap Citroen. They debated over the issue for nearly fifteen minutes before reaching a compromise; they'd take Jane's car just as long as Lisbon would be the one behind the wheel. She already mistrusted Jane's questionable driving skills, and this rusty, dilapidated thing he called a vehicle only deepened her fears.

The third was Mimi's difficulty with buckling her seat belt correctly due to the bulky cast still encasing her arm from wrist to elbow, and the fourth and final ordeal was when the engine stalled, giving Jane a mini heart attack and Lisbon a burst of hope; maybe they wouldn't have to take this death trap after all. However, to Lisbon's extreme disappointment and Jane's relief, the ignition eventually cooperated and, despite all the hold-ups, they were halfway to their destination by the time the sun was directly overhead.

Mimi and Will chattered excitedly the entire way there, and when Lisbon parked the Citroen in front of the zoos impressive gated entrance, they practically tripped over one another in their haste to get out of the car. They hopped impatiently from foot-to-foot while Lisbon awakened Jane, who'd spent the hour drive snoozing in the passenger seat, and took off running as soon as he clambered out onto the pavement.

"Mimi, Will, slow down! The zoo's not going anywhere!" Lisbon yelled after them, but to no avail. "God, why is it so hard for them to obey simple instructions? They're like you!" Lisbon groaned, shooting Jane an accusatory glare. Jane just chuckled and snaked and arm around Lisbon's waist as they trudged towards the zoo's massive front gate, which was topped with small, carved metal animals. It was going to be a long day.

They managed to visit six animal enclosures without Mimi or Will causing any serious disruptions or damage; Lisbon really wanted it to stay that way for the remainder of their time there. The last thing she needed was to end up having to pay the zoo for repairs, or anything else of that nature. But with the Hightower children, you never knew what was going to happen.

"Teresa, can we go see the seals now? My friend told me they can balance beach balls on the tips of their noses!" Mimi yelled excitedly, bouncing up and down. "Please, please, please?"

"No, I want to go see the lions first!" Will protested, putting on his pouty face while Mimi went for the puppy-dog eyes. Both techniques always failed to sway their parents, but maybe Lisbon would be different.

Lisbon sighed and looked to Jane for advice; she hated having to choose between them. It made her feel like she was choosing favorites, or saying that she loved one more than the other. Jane just shrugged and gave her an encouraging smile, telling her by way of body language that this one was up to her to solve.

Groaning, she pulled the map of the zoo they'd gotten earlier out of her jeans pocket; it would probably be best to settle this with logistics rather than opinion. To Lisbon, the map just looked like a bunch of overlapping lines and nonsensical shapes, so it took her a while to locate the seal and lion enclosures. She had to tilt it, rotate it, and even turn it upside down, but eventually she came to the conclusion that the lion exhibit was much closer to their current location, which was the huge stone fountain smack in the middle of the entire park.

She turned reluctantly back to Mimi and Will, who were leaning over the fountain's edge and groping for the shiny copper pennies resting on the marble bottom, and cleared her throat to get their attention.

"We're going to go see the lions first," Lisbon declared, holding up a finger to silence Will's cheering and Mimi's complaining. "But only because the seals are farther away; the water exhibits with the seals, penguins, fish, polar bears, and whales are closer to the food court, so we'll go there right after lunch, okay?" Mimi just huffed and stomped after them as they trekked along the worn cobblestone paths of the zoo.

"Wow, they're so big!" Will exclaimed upon seeing the lions. He pressed his hands and face up against the glass, admiring the furry, remarkable beasts. "Do they eat people?" he asked nervously, turning to Lisbon.

"Well I suppose they could, but there's no way they're going to eat you," Lisbon told the little boy reassuringly.

"How do you know?" he asked uncertainly, keeping one eye trained on the animals in question.

"Well for one thing, there's the glass wall protecting you; that's why it's there. And the workers give them lots of meat so they won't be hungry enough to eat you," Lisbon explained. Will nodded as if this made sense and turned back to the lions, just in time to see one lunge at him from behind the glass.

He leapt backwards, arms flailing windmill-style, feet scrambling against the ground until he reached Lisbon. He flung his arms around her and cowered there, glaring at Mimi when she snickered.

"Oh come on, did you actually think it was going to eat you?" Mimi asked. Will didn't say anything, just eyed the large felines warily, suddenly wishing they'd gone to see the seals instead. "Maybe tonight he'll sneak out and run to our house and eat you while you're sleeping!" Mimi crowed, enjoying the terrified look on her brother's face as he burrowed deeper into Lisbon.

"Mimi, stop traumatizing your brother or we're not going to go and see the seals at all," Lisbon scolded. "And Will, no lion is going to come and eat you tonight; he wouldn't even be able to fit through the door!"

Will laughed slightly at this and then looked up at Lisbon.

"Can we go and see the seals now?" he asked softly; Lisbon chuckled and patted him on the head affectionately.

"Of course we can."

It was 7:13 pm exactly, and the sun was dipping lower on the horizon by the minute. The sunset tonight was beautiful, streaking the sky with red, purple and pink streamers; the sun itself had gone from a vivid, blinding yellow to a dull, fiery orange, one that reminded Lisbon of Van Pelt's hair.

They'd visited all the exhibits, not skipping a single one, although touring the lion cage was quite a short-lived experience. Lisbon didn't end up having to apologize for any destruction or interruptions done by the kids, or Jane for that matter; the only mess made was at lunch, when Mimi squirted ketchup on her white sneakers and Will tipped over his juice box. Other than that and several small, harmless arguments between the kids, things had gone swimmingly; she made a mental note to thank them for that later.

"Jane, please tell me we're going home now," Lisbon begged, looking over to her blonde-haired companion. After walking around all day and carrying Will for a third of it, her arms were sore, her feet were swollen, and it was a struggle just to keep her eyes open. Plus, they had yet to see if the Citroen would start, and she didn't want to end up having to call and wait for a taxi to come and pick them up. No, what she wanted was to go home, take a hot shower, and nestle under the warm covers of her bed, preferably with Jane beside her. But with one sentence, Jane dashed any hopes she'd had.

"Not yet; we have one more thing to do before we leave," he said, leading them past the chimpanzee and gorilla enclosures. Lisbon could see a large group of people in the distance, seated on blankets or folding chairs on a wide, grassy expanse. She then looked to Mimi and Will, who were still wide awake, clutching their oversized stuffed animals and huge, brightly colored balloons, before finally turning back to Jane.

"But what? We've already seen everything there is to see," Lisbon resisted; what could they have possibly missed?

"Not everything," Jane responded, his vagueness and subtlety driving Lisbon up the wall. Why did everything with him have to be so damn complicated? Couldn't he just make things easy for once in his life? Sensing that he may be taking things too far, Jane decided to spill. "We're going to watch the fireworks," he said. "I thought the kids would like it." Mimi and Will's faces lit up like Christmas trees.

"Teresa, please let us watch the fireworks! Remember when we watched them at your work on the fourth of July? Remember how cool they were? Please, Teresa, please? We'll go right to bed when we get home, we promise!" Mimi urged, her words running together with excitement. Lisbon sighed, figuring it would be easier to consent then to dispute.

And this is how they wound up seated on the grass, staring expectantly up at the now darkened sky surrounded by hundreds of other onlookers. Jane and Lisbon sat close together, holding hands, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder; Mimi and Will, who were several feet in front of them, paid them no mind, too captivated by what they knew was about to happen.

As they waited for the fireworks to start, Lisbon allowed her eyelids to close and her thoughts wandered to her team. She wondered how they were faring by themselves; they were most likely finishing up for the day, if they hadn't already. She then found herself thinking about the phone call she'd made to Van Pelt after returning home the previous night, apologizing profusely for snapping at her. The younger woman had been beyond understanding, saying she knew what Lisbon must be going through, and that if she ever needed help or someone to talk to, that she'd always be there. It had touched Lisbon's heart and she realized once again just how fortunate she was to have the friends that she did; she couldn't express in words just how grateful she was to have people that she knew she could always rely on, even though sometimes she truly felt as if she didn't deserve them. She could no longer imagine life without them.

Come to think of it, she couldn't imagine life without Mimi and Will anymore either. They were her family now, and even though they could be royal pains sometimes, there were those certain moments-such as when Mimi told Lisbon she loved her, or watching as she rode a bike for the first time-that made up for all of the bad things that happened. And it was those moments that Lisbon would never forget; plus, they were just so much fun to be around. Lisbon had grown to love their playful antics and the noise and mischief they caused, and with the first burst of color to illuminate the sky, she suddenly understood the reason why. They reminded her of Jane, the person that she loved more than anything. She'd never really noticed it before, but now that she actually thought about it, she realized that he and the kids were exactly alike; they annoyed the crap out of her, but were compassionate and always there when she needed them to be; they had the ability to cheer her up and make her laugh no matter how upset she was. But most important was the fact that even though they'd seen how awful she could be, it didn't make them love her any less. And that meant more to her than any of them could ever know; she only hoped they knew that she felt exactly the same way about them.

**A/N: The end of this chapter is definitely my favorite part; please review sharing your thoughts, whether they are positive comments or constructive criticism! Any reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	9. Painful Memories

**Author's Note: Okay, I know it has been a really, really, really, REALLY long time since I last updated this story, and I'm sorry to those of you that read it! I've just been SO busy with school and everything, and I had NO idea how to write this chapter, but here it is. I'm sorry that it's not the best, but I wasn't sure what to do with it and I kind of wanted to just get it out of the way so I could write the next one, which is going MUCH better than this one did! It will be poster A LOT sooner than this one. Anyway, review?**

**Chapter Nine (Painful Memories): **

The remaining fifteen days of November came and went and the first three weeks of December flew by so fast everyone barely had time to blink; with a mere ninety-six hours remaining until Christmas Day, the holidays and everything associated with them were in full swing.

The entirety of Sacramento had been transformed into a Christmas wonderland; fake trees had been scattered all over town, colorful wreaths had been hung up on nearly every door and silver tinsel had been strung along the tops of buildings. Even the CBI had been decked out in holiday décor; someone had placed a fully ornamented tree in the bullpen, stuck a red ribbon on the coffee machine, and even plastered the bathroom walls in handmade paper snowflakes. Just the other day Lisbon had entered her office to find a huge blow-up reindeer propped against her desk along with a little card reading "Guess Who."

And it wasn't just decorations either; there were a host of activities being held all over town, including a church play that Mimi and Will were participating in, and which Lisbon had to bake one hundred Christmas cookies for. As if that wasn't hard enough, Mimi and Will were now officially on holiday break, and Amy wasn't able to care for them due to her boyfriend whisking her off on some surprise romantic getaway. With no one else available, Lisbon was forced to keep them with her at work all day, and if there was anything she'd learned over the past week, it was that crime fighting and childcare did not go hand-in-hand. Especially when she also had a pain-in-the-ass consultant to keep an eye on. Thank god she didn't have to worry about either of those problems today, as the aforementioned consultant had offered to take them to the mall to sit on Santa Claus's lap. But she knew that it was only a matter of time before they'd be back and nagging at her once more.

To say the least, it was extremely stressful and Lisbon could feel herself beginning to crack under the pressure. She'd always had the overwhelming need to please everybody and to always be completely in control of everything and everyone in her life and it exhausted her. Lately it had been worse than usual, and Lisbon didn't know how much more she could take; she hadn't had a minute to herself in weeks and it was beginning to catch up and take its toll on her. Plus, the time of the year wasn't exactly ideal either; everyone was cheerful and in good spirits what with the upcoming holidays and all, but Lisbon didn't share the happiness that everybody else seemed to possess. In fact, she always got depressed when Christmas rolled around due to nightmarish childhood memories, and it made her grumpy and ill-tempered.

Lisbon sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands, images of her final Christmas before her father's tragic suicide flooding her mind.

_17-year-old Teresa Lisbon awoke on the battered, beer-stained couch in the living room of her one-story Chicago house on Christmas morning. She was curled into a tiny ball, with her dark hair fanning out over her shoulders and her head resting on her folded arms. She slowly stretched and unfolded herself, moving into a sitting position and trying to clear away the hazy confusion filling her brain. Her emerald eyes scanned the empty room, moving from the carpet to the walls to the front door and eventually to the fireplace on the opposite side of the room. Four stockings dangled from the mantel, each one skillfully embroidered with it's owners name. One of them-the dark green one-was Teresa's, while the remaining three belonged to her younger brothers. Their mother had sewn them herself. That was why they were the only Christmas decorations in the entire house. _

_"Reese?" A small voice tugged Teresa's gaze over to the hallway, where she found her youngest brother, 11-year-old Tommy, standing. His eyelids drooped with sleepiness, his black curls were sticking out in every direction, and his blue-striped pajamas were slightly rumpled. He had to lean against the wall in order to stay on his feet. Teresa couldn't help but laugh at his bedraggled appearance. _

_"Merry Christmas, Tommy," she said softly. _

_"Merry Christmas, Reese," he responded in a whisper, smiling groggily. He stumbled over to his sister and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Teresa returned the embrace, then pulled away and lovingly ruffled Tommy's messy curls. _

_"Do you want some breakfast?" she asked him. His face brightened immediately and Teresa laughed again. "Come on, let's go," she said, leading him into the kitchen. Tommy sat down at the table and watched as Teresa turned on the stove than pulled out a frying pan and began cracking eggs into a bowl. _

_"Sunny-side up or scrambled?" Teresa asked, looking to Tommy for an answer. _

_"Hmmm," he murmured, taking the time to consider his options. He took all of his meals very seriously. "Both?" he said hopefully, putting on his best puppy-dog face. Lisbon grinned. _

_"Okay, fine, but only because it's Christmas!" she warned. The siblings continued their usual, harmless banter until a loud crash silenced them both. Teresa startled and dropped the glass plate she was carrying, which shattered into a million pieces upon impact with the tile floor. Tommy's eyes were wide with fear and Teresa's heart was pounding in her chest, but neither one of them dared move, not even a muscle. Out of the corner of her eye, Teresa saw James and Michael enter the living room, horror written on their faces; she motioned for them to hide behind the couch and then put a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet. The two boys nodded and obeyed their sister's orders, getting on their hands and knees and crouching down behind the sofa so they were out of sight. _

_Teresa then turned back to Tommy and made a small shooing gesture with her hand, which Tommy understood immediately. He jumped off of his chair and started towards the living room, but stopped and turned around halfway there. _

_"What about you, Reese?" he said, his voice small and quivering. His lower lip trembled and several tears spilled down his cheeks. _

_"Tommy, don't worry about me; I'll be fine, I promise. Just go and hide, now," Teresa said firmly, trying desperately to sound more confident than she felt. A person could only take so much, could only be brave for so long, and having to do this killed her. But she had to do it, she had no choice; she had to keep them safe. She'd promised her mother that she would, and if that meant throwing herself in the line of fire, then so be it. She instinctively reached up to finger the crucifix she always wore around her neck, the one she'd gotten from her mom. Teresa considered it her good luck charm. "Go Tommy, go!" she urged. Tommy, who was still reluctant, opened his mouth to protest further but stopped when another crash, this one even louder than before, sounded just down the hall. _

_"Hide Tommy, right now!" Teresa yelled, fighting back tears. _

_"But he'll hurt you!" Tommy begged. "Just come and hide with us!"_

_"He's hurt be before, Tommy! I can take it, I can, I swear to you! Now go, right now! I mean it, go!" Teresa was verging on hysterics now and close to cracking. But she forced herself to stay strong. If she broke down, they'd all fall apart._

_"No, Reese, no!" Tommy wailed. Despite the broken glass everywhere, Tommy ran up to Teresa and began tugging on her arm. Teresa fought back, trying in vain to shake him off and shove him forwards, but it didn't work; nothing did, and she knew they were running out of time. _

_"James, help!" Teresa shouted helplessly, her voice hoarse and raspy. James, who was the second oldest at fifteen, was there in seconds. He wrapped his arms around Tommy's waist and effortlessly hoisted him into the air; Tommy kicked and screamed, but James held on tight. _

_"Stay safe, Reese," James grunted breathlessly as he struggled to keep his hold on Tommy._

_"I will, I promise," Teresa said, taking a deep breath and struggling to get her bearings. James nodded gruffly and started to back away, but she stopped him before he could take more than a few steps. "Go out the back door," she told him. "Hide in the shed; use the ladder to go up to the loft. You'll be safer there." _

_James gave another nod. "Okay," he answered. "Will do." And then he was gone. Teresa heard the back door open and close and gained a bit of relief knowing they'd be safe. But it broke her heart knowing that they had to climb to the top of the backyard shed for that to be possible. For most kids, home was where they felt the safest; the one place they knew they'd never get hurt. For the Lisbon children, it was the most dangerous place for them to be. And the reason for that was their own father; their alcoholic, abusive father. Parents were supposed to protect their kids, not beat on them, and with every passing day Lisbon hated her dad even more. For being someone that they had to hide from, someone they had to fear; for putting them through this. For all of the horrible things he did. _

_Teresa had spent the last five years acting as a mother to her siblings, doing all of the things her own mother had done and even more, because she had to protect them from their dad. She'd taken beatings for them for half a decade, and she'd never regretted it once. Had never once thought about saving herself and allowing them to get hurt. She hadn't even had to think about jumping in front of them when her dad started throwing punches; she'd just done it. It was instinct; but it also wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for her father to do that to her, to make her choose between herself and her brothers. It wasn't fair at all. She'd never had a normal childhood, and there was one person to blame for that; she understood that her dad was upset and angry after her mom died, but he didn't have to take it out on his kids, who hadn't done anything wrong. They'd loved him, trusted him, and this was what they'd gotten in return._

_Anger coursed through Teresa's veins and she clenched her fists at her sides, steeling herself as her father's loud, uneven footsteps came ever closer. And closer, and closer, until he was standing in the kitchen doorway, less than ten feet away from his daughter, who was still surrounded by shards of broken glass. Neither one of them moved, just stood there, staring at one another. Teresa couldn't believe this man was actually somebody she called her family, her own flesh and blood. He was a stranger now; he gazed her with his raw, bloodshot eyes, the fingers of his left hand curled tightly around the neck of a beer bottle. _

_Teresa's heart lurched and she felt the bile begin to rise up in the back of her throat as he slowly began to advance towards her, a bit unsteady on his feet. But she still didn't give in, still refused to show weakness. He was barely a foot away from her when he stopped. _

_"Teresa," he slurred. "C'mere, Teresa." He reached out with his empty hand, but Teresa shrunk away and he wound up touching thin air. "Come on, I won't hurt you."_

_"Well that has gotta be the lie of the century," Teresa mumbled._

_"What was that?" her dad questioned, suspicion appearing on his bearded face._

_Teresa's head shot up. "Nothing," she said softly._

_"I asked you a question, young lady!" he roared. _

_"Yeah, and I answered!" Teresa shot back angrily. _

_"No, you didn't!" He took a menacing step forwards, and Teresa took one step backwards. It was like a chain reaction from there; every time he moved, she moved too, except in the opposite direction, until her back was pressed up against the wall, just to the right of the back door. He started to raise his fist, ready to deliver the first blow, but Teresa, thinking quickly, managed to briefly divert his attention by faking a gasp and pointing at something somewhere over her dad's shoulder. Drunk as he was, he fell for Teresa's trick, and turned away from Teresa, giving her just enough time to escape out the back door. _

_The grass was coated with a layer of snow, so Teresa couldn't run as fast as she would've liked. She was only about a quarter of the way across the yard when she heard her father's voice, full of hot fury. _

_"Dammit Teresa, get back here right now, you selfish, ungrateful little brat!" he bellowed. Teresa, of course, ignored him, focusing solely on running. Her lungs burned and her legs ached and the freezing winter air hit her like needles, but she forged ahead anyway, knowing she'd be in far more pain if she'd didn't managed to get away. She knew for a fact her dad must be coming after her by now; she could hear him several yards behind her, yelling something every few seconds. She was now nearing the shed, where James and the others were; if she could just reach the door before her father reached her, she'd be all right. With each passing footfall, Teresa grew more confident in the fact that she'd be able to make it. After all, her dad was drunk so he didn't have full control of his body, which made for slower going._

_She was within feet of the shed when she heard James's voice. Caught off guard by the sudden distraction, she momentarily stopped moving and glanced upwards. James had opened the shed's top window and was staring down at Teresa with a look of urgency on his face. _

_"Watch out, Reese!" he screamed. Without taking the time to think about what she was doing, Teresa whirled around just in time for an object to hit her smack in the forehead. A cry of pain escaped past Teresa's lips as she crashed down into the snow. Searing pain shot through her, rendering her speechless. Unable to move, she lay flat on her back in the cold, deep snow, helplessly listening as James yelled for her to get up, to get away, to do something. But she couldn't; she slowly raised her fingers to her forehead, gingerly assessing the damage. She could tell right away that there was a pretty deep gash there, and it was bleeding heavily, staining her fingers bright red._

_Woozy, she slowly lowered her hand and tried to turn her head slightly, which sent another sharp wave of pain flowing through her. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for it to fade once again. Her heart pounded as she slowly rolled onto her stomach and shakily forced herself to her feet, despite the agonizing pain throbbing in her head. She stumbled blindly towards the shed, her fingers fumbling with the doorknob as she tried to get it open, only to find it locked. _

_ "James!" she called out weakly, the word just barely making it past her lips as she leaned against the wall for support, shivering in the cold, a thin, yet steady stream of blood trickling down the side of her face. "James, open the door!" she called again, hugging herself and squinting into the swirling snow, just barely able to make out her father about twenty feet away from her. _

_ "Reese, come on, get inside!" Teresa jumped slightly at the sound of her brother's voice and whirled around to find him standing there in the open doorway, his green eyes wild and desperate. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" _

_ Letting out a shuddering breath, Teresa ducked inside after him, slamming the door and locking it firmly behind her before collapsing into a breathless heap on the wood floor. Her hand shook as she pressed it to her forehead in a futile attempt to stop the blood flow. _

_ "Reese, are you okay?" James asked worriedly, dropping down beside her as Tommy and Michael cautiously approached them, Tommy's face instantly crumpling when he saw his sister. He rushed to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her close. _

_ "I told you he would hurt you!" he cried. _

_ "Relax, Tommy; it isn't as bad as it looks," Teresa responded, trying to keep her voice from trembling and forcing a small smile to try and calm him down. "I'm going to be fine." _

_ "Are you sure, Reese? It really doesn't look too good," James said uncertainly, the concern in his voice unmistakable. _

_ "I'm fine, James," Teresa said, a little more sharply than she meant to. "It's just a little cut."_

_ "Yeah, and World War 2 was just a little disagreement," James said sarcastically. "You at least need a bandage or something." He turned around and did a quick once-over of the shed and managed to find a worn, red scarf folded neatly on top of a cardboard box. He brought it over and wrapped it carefully, tightly around Teresa's head, trying to ignore the way she cringed in pain.  
_

_ "Thanks," she whispered. _

_ They sat in silence for a few moments until Michael spoke for the first time that morning. _

_ "Where do you think Dad went?" _

_ "It doesn't matter where he went, Mike; he can't get us in here. We're safe," Teresa said immediately, not leaving any room for discussion on the matter. No one said another word about it the whole rest of the day. _

They'd spent the remainder of their Christmas huddled together in that shed, only talking every so often just to fill the space; not that it mattered anyway. The only present Lisbon had gotten from that horrible day was the scar that would never fully fade. A permanent reminder of the day she wanted so desperately to forget.

Taking a deep breath, she began to again think about the idea she'd been turning over and over again in her head for several weeks now, ever since the signs of the holidays first started to appear-taking some vacation time. Normally she would go and see her brothers and her niece, the only family she had left, but there was no way she was carting Mimi and Will all the way to Chicago to spend Christmas with people they'd never even met before. She didn't have enough for three plane tickets anyhow, but she did want to make this Christmas special for them, seeing as it would be the first they'd spend without their parents. And that would be hard to do if she was at work all day, every day.

She hadn't even had the time to buy a Christmas tree yet; she'd promised the kids she would, but she just hadn't had the time yet, and they reminded her of that at least ten times a day. Lisbon let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her dark hair; she knew she should do it. Maybe she could convince Jane to take the week off too and he could spend the holidays with her and the kids; the thought of him spending Christmas alone made her heart ache. Maybe the team could celebrate with them as well; she knew Van Pelt had family back in Iowa, but as far as she knew, Cho and Rigsby didn't usually go anywhere or doing anything special.

They all needed a break, desperately, and they all knew it; everyone was stressed out and on-edge lately, and it was negatively impacting their careers. They got into a lot of arguments over simple things and lashed out at one another for no reason. Lisbon's eyes drifted to one of the framed photos sitting on her desk, right next to her computer, and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips-it was a picture that Jane had taken of her and the kids in front of the big fountain at the zoo. They all looked impossibly happy; Mimi and Will were sitting on either side of her, her arms around their shoulders, her mouth open in mid-laugh. They looked like a family. It was in that moment that Lisbon made her decision.

**Author's Note: Okay, I'm not crazy about the ending, and I really wasn't sure how to write the flashback, so I kind of just went with it. I have NO idea if Lisbon's dad was really that violent, but that's the way I decided to write it. The next chapter will be the actual Christmas chapter, and I'm working on it now-as I said before, it's going SO much better than this one did. Remember, more reviews=faster updates. :)**


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